Primary goals of „Vote! You are at home!” campaign are as follows:
• Educate and inform the Polish community of the functions of the Irish Local Government and encourage active participation in same and in the forthcoming local elections
• Engage with community leaders and recruit them for the campaign
• Increase the Polish profile and overall contribution in Ireland.
• Encourage debate within the Polish community about their local issues and local Government activities.
To achieve these goals the campaign aims to encourage Poles to participate in the forthcoming Local Elections 2014, both as candidates and as voters.
As the campaign will have finished by June 2014, the main focus before the end of 2013 will be on:
1. Registering for 2014 local elections – We will encourage the Polish community to register via simplified registration by 25th November 2013
2. Building up the awareness of local elections amongst Polish community by engaging with and by supporting local Polish activists who wish to participate in the campaign. Support provided to activists will be based on a proven formula designed by School for Leaders Association.
3. Generate engagement with representatives of the Polish non profit organisations in Ireland.
4. Encouraging all Poles having the right to vote to use it (nationwide).
Main activities
1) The direct aim of the project is to engage local Polish leaders in Ireland, who are politically active or express an interest in the campaign. We want to involve people who are active and want to deepen integration of the Polish minority with Irish. Those participants will be given tasks to undertake in their local communities.
2) production of promotional materials (video, posters, leaflets) which will be distributed through media, organisations and institutions, Polish shops and churches.
3) conference for activists involved in the campaign at the end of November
The activists involved in the campaign will benefit from professional support of coordinators as regards the Irish political system, assistance in establishing contacts within Irish institutions, workshops and regional meetings related to analysis and diagnosis of their local communities’ needs.
This campaign is driven by regular interaction with all Polish activists together with the provision of technical support – which will reinforce individual roles and sense of belonging to the campaign.
The campaign will be broadcasted via the Internet, media, through partner organizations and other affiliated institutions, such as the Polish churches, Saturday schools and th Polish Embassy